Allies
by thecloseryoulook
Summary: Magic and international heists? Naturally, SHIELD would take notice. A Now You See Me and Avengers crossover told in three parts. Rated T for language because I do what I want. Set post-film and featuring Fury, Coulson, Tony, Steve, Clint and Natasha of the Avengers; Daniel, Jack, Merritt, and Henley of the Horsemen.
1. Chapter 1

"Magicians," Tony repeated, carefully pronouncing each syllable. "You're sure that's what he said?"

Steve nodded. "Straight from Coulson's mouth."

Clint shook his head. "They'll let anybody into SHIELD headquarters these days, huh?"

"They've make quite the international storm," Natasha replied. "From what I can tell, these four – Horsemen, they call themselves – seem like a force to be reckoned with."

Tony chuckled. "Still, aliens, and now magic?"

Steve shrugged. "It's pretty outlandish, but if Coulson wants us to talk with them, we will." He looked around the conference room. "Say, where's Bruce?"

"Oh, I ran into him earlier," Natasha said. "Magicians have a tendency to do things suddenly; he decided he was going to sit this one out."

"Pity," Tony sighed. "I wanted to team up with him to pull apart all their tricks."

"Bad idea, Tony," Clint warned. "I know some magicians, and nothing pisses them off faster."

The door slammed open, making the four Avengers jump. Director Fury strode into the room, followed closely by Coulson.

"Stark, you are absolutely not to piss off the magicians," Fury commanded. "We've convinced them to come here so we can create allies, not enemies. The Four Horsemen have committed massive international theft and evaded some of the FBI's top agents. We won't be able to figure out exactly how, but we'd all feel much safer if those with the knowledge were on our side." Fury turned to glance at Coulson. "Now, I have other places to be. Agent Coulson will brief you on their profiles. And all of you – not just Tony – behave." He glared around the room once more before turning on his heel and storming out.

Coulson cleared his throat. "Natasha is the only one who's familiar with the Horsemen?" he asked. Guilty stares from the men and a smug grin from Natasha confirmed his suspicions. "Alright, I'll take it from the top. They'll be here in half an hour though, so let's make this quick." He plugged a thumb drive into a nearby laptop and the Avengers turned in their seats as the projector warmed up.

"Okay," he began. "First, a summary: not too long ago, four magicians came out of nowhere and onto the Las Vegas stage. They called themselves the Four Horsemen. They were backed financially by Arthur Tressler."

Tony grimaced and muttered something sounding suspiciously like "Dick." Coulson gave him an icy glare, and Tony blinked innocently in return. Shaking his head, Coulson continued. "Their first show ended with them robbing a French bank, setting both the FBI and Interpol on their tail. Agent Dylan Rhodes headed the investigation. Over their next two shows, the Horsemen managed not only to steal millions, but also to make the government agencies of the world look ridiculous. The most curious thing about any of this is that they never kept a penny for themselves. After their third and final show, they vanished." Coulson adjusted his tie. "That is, until we found them."

"Now, one of the marvels of the Horsemen is that they ever managed to work together. First, we have the man who is presumably their leader, James Daniel Atlas. Going by Daniel, we've profiled him as an obsessive, slightly narcissistic, control freak." Coulson barely hid his glance at Tony. "He's an good illusionist – very famous, then declined before joining the Horsemen. Then, Henley Reeves. She started out as Daniel's assistant before making a name for herself as an accomplished escape artist." Coulson glanced up from his notes. "The relationship between Henley and Daniel – between Daniel and all of them, really, but especially those two – is one of the biggest strains on the Horsemen." He actually managed not to look at Clint and Natasha this time as he muttered, "Many unacknowledged romantic feelings there." He cleared his throat.

"Moving on, Jack Wilder. The youngest of the Horsemen; not much is officially known about his past. However, we were able to dig up a few records – he was in and out of the foster system as a child before finally going off the grid at age twelve. Our best guess is that he made money by picking pockets with magic as a distraction. Keep a hand on your wallets."

"The final member of the Horsemen is Merritt McKinney. This is the one you should seriously watch out for. He's a mentalist – commonly known as a mind reader." Coulson looked up again. "I mean, he can't actually read minds. Mostly just body language, really. But he's very, very good at what he does. I'd tell you not to let him catch you off guard, but he will. So try not to look too stupid while he's doing it."

The Avengers looked between each other, suddenly apprehensive. What had begun as a simple, almost silly, mission was rapidly becoming much more.

a/n: Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my Now You See Me/Avengers crossover fic, Allies. I owe a big thank you to thebabysleight and starkindustriesonline, two Tumblr roleplayers whom I must credit for this crossover idea. My plan for this fic is to have three chapters: The Avengers about the Horsemen, the Horsemen about the Avengers, and finally the two groups meeting. All reviews, comments, and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated. I know I can always improve on my work!

See you next time!

- Julia


	2. Chapter 2

"Danny, when are you planning on telling us where we're going?" Henley complained from the backseat of the car. The young man had been extremely secretive over the past couple days; the only things he would disclose about their trip was that they were to meet some people, it was a surprise, and that they'd like it. This had been announced a week earlier, and in all the time since Daniel refused to make eye contact with Merritt, or reveal information in any way.

Daniel sat in the front seat of the taxi while Henley, Jack, and Merritt were squished in the back. Sighing, Daniel twisted around in his seat.

"Well, since we're nearly there, I suppose now is as good a time as any." He took a deep breath. "Are any of you familiar with the Avengers Initiative?"

Henley emitted a small squeak and Jack's jaw dropped. Even Merritt's eyes widened. "You know," he said, "you didn't have to avoid me for the past week – even with mentalism, I wouldn't have guessed that."

Jack struggled to regain composure. "Hey, wait – is Iron Man going to be there? Because he's my favorite. By so much."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I don't know – probably. Nick Fury – the director – called me last week and asked us to come. Well, more like told us to come." He shrugged. "Not that I was going to say no. But anyway, he wants us to meet some of the Avengers and show us around a bit."

"Sounds like they're trying to make some allies," Merritt added. "I'll bet you they have no idea how we've been pulling all this off. Us, a bunch of civilians, with no magic, committing international robberies and successfully avoiding the feds." Merritt raised an eyebrow. "Fishing for secrets, probably."

Daniel nodded. "That's what I was worried about. On the phone Director Fury sounded nice enough, but that can fade quickly in person. We have to stay on top of our game in case they try and pull anything."

Henley frowned. "Danny, remember the part where they're superheroes? What the hell can we do – there's no way we can get an advantage."

Jack cut Daniel off before he could reply. "For starters, they won't be expecting it."

Laughter filled the cab. "Really, though, I hope we just get to hang out with them," Henley began. "I mean, I've always wanted to meet Captain America – those muscles are amazing."

Daniel scowled. "I wouldn't mind meeting the Black Widow."

"Yes, Daniel, we know you have a thing for fiery redheads," Merritt replied. Daniel's scowl deepened as Henley and Jack laughed. He tried to stammer a rebuttal, but Jack spoke over him.

"I really want to meet Iron Man!"

Daniel's expression lightened as he looked over at Jack. "You mentioned that before – any particular reason why?"

Jack reddened and stared down at his lap. "Well, when I was a kid in New York – on the streets and all – I guess I just always felt safer knowing Stark Tower was there, with Iron Man in it." He looked up, shrugging. "I dunno. He just seems like the kind of guy you want to meet."

The taxi was silent. Jack was the youngest and frequently most cheerful of the Horsemen. It was disturbingly easy to forget about his troubled past. Henley put together a smile for Jack before smoothly changing the subject.

"So, Merritt," she said. "Who are you looking forward to meeting?"

"Black Widow," he replied quickly. "Aside from being just my type," he began with a wink to Henley, "she's supposed to be impossible to read. I want to see just how true that is." Merritt grinned. "I almost hope they've been briefed on mentalism. Then I won't feel bad about going full force on them – not that I was going to feel bad, anyway. Iron Man should be easy enough: anxious, alcoholic, narcissist…"

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, punching Merritt from his middle seat. "Don't be a dick. Iron Man is awesome."

Daniel turned around in his seat to exchange a meaningful glance with Henley. It has been said that you should never meet your heroes. Daniel just hoped Jack would be okay.

The taxi slowed to a stop and Merritt jumped out, calling "Shotgun pays!" behind him. Henley and Jack followed close behind, leaving Daniel to pay the fare.

Once the cab drove off, the Horsemen stood outside the headquarters building. Reaching out to the two next to her, Henley grabbed Merritt and Jack's hands, leaving Jack to take Daniel's.

"Not this again…" Merritt muttered, but Henley ignored him.

"I know this isn't a performance, and I know certain members of our little family made me promise to stop giving pep talks, but that doesn't matter. We're going to meet the Avengers, and we are going to blow them away. We won't give away our secrets, nor will we expose our leaders. Alright?"

"Yes," Daniel growled, pulling away his hand.

"Amen," Merritt agreed, crossing himself and bowing his head.

Jack simply nodded; from the moment he had caught sight of the building, he had been speechless.

"Good enough," Henley shrugged. The Four Horsemen walked inside.

a/n: Hey Horsemen! My apologies for taking so long to update. Unfortunately it'll probably be a few days before I can update again as well – sorry! Now, time for some general responses. First, thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate all the kind words and advice. Second, I'm not planning on including Dylan or Bruce in this particular story. In order for those characters to really work together, I feel that I need an inspired reason as to why they look exactly the same. Otherwise, I believe that it'd seem really contrived and just bad. Therefore, not going to do that. Third, Thor is off doing Asgard stuff because of reasons. And finally, I'm still planning for this particular story to be three chapters long. However, I'm quite open to writing more in this universe!

See you next time,

- Julia


	3. Chapter 3

A sharp knock snapped the Avengers into focus. Coulson opened the door and spoke briefly with the agent outside before motioning for the Avengers to stand and throwing the door open wide.

The Horsemen strode through the door with remarkable confidence and calm, though each was freaking out internally. Once inside, Coulson closed the door behind them, clearing his throat.

"Welcome, Horsemen – we're thrilled to have you. I doubt they need introduction, but here are the Avengers." He pointed to each of the heroes in turn. "Tony Stark, Iron Man. Steve Rogers, Captain America. Natasha Romanov, Black Widow. Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Oh, and I'm Agent Phil Coulson," he added as an afterthought.

The Horsemen acknowledged each of the Avengers before Daniel spoke up. "It's fantastic to be here. My name is Daniel Atlas – I'm an illusionist. This," he motioned to Jack, "is Jack Wilder, sleight. Next, Merritt McKinney, mentalist, and finally – "

"I can introduce myself, Danny," Henley interrupted. "Henley Reeves. Escape artist."

Clint and Natasha exchanged a brief glance; they recognized the dynamic all too well. Luckily, Clint had long since learned to never attempt to speak for Natasha.

In the interest of preventing any further conflict, Coulson stepped in. "I need to leave for a moment, but I'll be back soon to bring you on a tour of the building." He nodded to the Horsemen before looking over to the Avengers. "If you need me, you know how to call." He slipped out the door.

"So," Tony began, slouching back into a chair. "Pretty nice stunts you guys have been pulling." Jack quickly grabbed the chair nearest to Tony before the older man continued. "I have to say, we've all been wondering how you pulled it off."

"Well," Jack began, before getting hurriedly cut off by Daniel.

"Trade secret," Daniel said.

"Told you so," muttered Clint.

"Understandable," Steve replied. "Er – what have you been doing since?"

"Afraid we can't tell you that either," Henley sighed. Her gaze drifted across Steve's physique and Daniel's frown deepened.

"Fine, fine," Tony said, waving a hand. "Is there anything you can discuss? Can you show us any tricks?"

"Illusions," Daniel corrected. "Tricks are for hookers."

Everyone laughed as Tony sighed. Perhaps he and Daniel were far too similar to ever get along.

"But yes, we can show you a thing or two," Daniel continued. "Jack, why don't you start?"

Jack nearly leaped out of his seat, cards appearing in his hands in a flash. "Sure!" he agreed. "What's my target?"

Henley grabbed a pencil from the table. Looking over at Steve, she asked, "Mind if we use this?" Steve looked slightly confused, but shook his head nonetheless. Henley strode to the other side of the conference room and held the pencil out to the side at arm's length. Jack backed up against the opposite wall, maximizing the distance between them. He took a deep breath before throwing four cards in rapid succession. With four solid _thwacks, _all that remained of the pencil in Henley's hand was the eraser. Four neatly cut pieces lay at her feet as Jack grinned triumphantly. The others clapped enthusiastically as Jack bowed before returning to his seat.

"Damn," Natasha said. "Now that would be a useful skill to have undercover. You'll have to show me how you do that some time." Jack just beamed at her in response.

Tony smacked him on the back of the shoulder. "Nice work, kid." Jack concluded that he could now die happy, but only managed to articulate this through a small squeaking noise.

Steve was looking at Merritt, an expression of confusion on his face. "Hey, Merritt, isn't it? Are you okay? You haven't said anything this whole time."

From the moment they had entered the conference room, Merritt's eyes had not left Natasha. He slowly shook his head, blinked a few times, and then turned to Steve. "She's unreadable!" he spluttered. "I can't get a single thing!"

Natasha laughed, a full-body experience with her head thrown back. Disgruntled, Clint handed her a twenty. Looking over to Merritt, he said, "I had faith in you, McKinney. Do better next time."

The Horsemen looked on in amazement; they had never known someone unreadable to Merritt. "You'll have to teach me how to do that some time," Henley managed.

"A little trick I picked up from years of undercover training," Natasha replied with a victorious grin that reached every corner of her face. "I can make you read anything I want you to – or, most entertainingly, nothing at all. It's come in handy before, although I've never met as good a mentalist as you. There was some doubt in there if it'd work."

Merritt just shook his head. "Oh, it worked." He couldn't seem to pull the confusion from his features. "I've never met somebody I couldn't read before."

"Oh, really?" Tony asked. "Try and read me, then."

"Iron – Tony – that's really not a good idea, being read isn't fun…" Jack said in an attempt to deter the older man. Tony ignored him.

"Come on, Merritt. Do me."

Daniel smirked. "Yeah, Merritt. Do Tony."

Henley winced.

Merritt put up a hand. "Alright, alright, I will." He turned to face Tony and stared intently at him. The longer he looked, the higher he raised his eyebrow. Finally, he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Oh, man, you're really messed up. I'm not sharing this one. First, you could probably vaporize me, and second, I'm not going to ruin little Jackie's perception of his favorite super hero."

Jack reddened from his neck to the tops of his ears. "Merritt – " he stammered.

Tony looked simultaneously both thrilled and crushed. "Well, I'd hoped to hear how wonderful I was, but kid – you didn't mention you're a fan!" He smiled at Jack. Jack looked like he was going to cry again.

Daniel looked vaguely disappointed.

Suddenly, the door opened behind them and Coulson stuck his head inside. "Sorry for interrupting the fun, but it's time to show the Horsemen around. Steve, Clint, and Natasha – get your things together and meet me for a mission briefing in an hour. Tony, you're not going on this one, but Miss Potts is waiting for you."

Tony groaned as they all filed outside. After a round of friendly goodbyes, Steve, Clint, and Natasha left for their quarters.

"We're heading in the same direction, right?" Tony asked. "I'll walk with you guys. I can introduce you to Pepper, too."

Coulson rolled his eyes. "You just want a buffer so she can't yell at you as much," he replied.

"No!" Tony protested. "I mean, yes, but I think she's been following the whole magic thing. I remember her mentioning it before. I'm sure she'd be excited to meet you all."

Coulson shrugged. "Sure, come with us then. We're just walking a loop around the building, anyway." He set off, and the others followed quickly behind.

Tony fell into step with Henley. "So," he began, before Henley cut him off.

"How did Natasha react when you tried to flirt with her?"

Tony winced. "Poorly. But – hey! Damn, I thought you were the escape artist, not the mentalist." He almost seemed to pout. "I had some great lines about handcuffs."

She laughed. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I did shows in Vegas. I've heard every line more than I'd like to recall."

Sighing, he replied, "Well, it was worth a shot, anyway."

Ahead, Coulson was rattling off statistics and facts to the boys, who were listening attentively. Suddenly, he stopped in front of an office door.

"Tony," he called. "Your stop. We'll wait outside while Pepper, ah, speaks with you."

Tony grimaced before knocking on the door. "Wish me luck," he stage-whispered back to them. "Hey, Pep – " was all the Horsemen heard before the door slammed shut and the muffled shouting began.

Coulson looked over to the Horsemen and shrugged. "It'll probably be a minute. You know how it is."

"Oh, do we ever," Merritt replied with a meaningful look toward Daniel and Henley.

An awkward silence ensued as the shouting continued from inside the office. No one was quite sure what to say or do. Moments later, the door was thrown open and a slightly red Pepper Potts appeared in the doorway.

"Hello! Ah – come in, come in."

They filed inside and stood around the small office. Tony was slouched in a chair, arms crossed.

"Hi, Pepper Potts," she said, shaking the hand of each Horseman in turn. "I've been keeping up with your exploits; it's great to finally get to meet you!" Upon reaching Henley, her smile widened. "Henley, right? I have to say, I love your style. Especially the gloves! I ended up getting myself a pair, in fact." Henley beamed in return. "I'm really sorry I can't stay and chat for longer, but I really do have a lot to do. Tony does, as well," she added with a meaningful look to the sulking man. "But it was fantastic to meet you all!"

Without realizing it, they had all somehow ended up outside Pepper's office. Pepper walked briskly off in one direction, nearly dragging Tony along with her.

Jack looked confused. "Did we just – I mean, is she always like that?"

Coulson smiled slightly. "Pretty much. She's an extremely busy and talented woman, running Stark Industries and managing Tony as well."

"I thought she was pretty nice," Henley said.

"Yeah, well," Daniel began, before a look from Henley silenced him. When she was sure he wasn't about to continue, Henley grinned.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I picked up a few things from Natasha. Pretty useful, huh?"

"I'm not a dog, you know," Daniel grumbled.

Merritt barked at him, causing Jack and Henley to laugh. They had just reached the exit, and Coulson turned around to address them.

"Thank you all for coming here today. I hope you had fun, and I hope that in the future, you can think of us here at SHIELD as allies in whatever you choose to do next."

The Horsemen all smiled, each shaking Coulson's hand in turn.

"_Allies," _they thought. "_Maybe we'll take you up on that some day."_

a/n: Hey Horsemen! Wow, okay, long update. And much faster this time too (it's because I had a long plane ride to write it)! Our beloved teams finally meet; I can only hope I've done them some justice. As always, feedback is LOVED, whether it's compliments or constructive criticism. At the moment I do not have specific plans for a sequel, but I've left the ending open, so who knows? You are also free to write more in this universe - no need to credit me for anything. I would, however, appreciate a link to your story when you're done!

Thanks for reading,

- Julia


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